Tesla Motors' all-electric auto business heavily relies on batteries, so it makes sense that the company has placed a lot of emphasis on that area with Supercharger stations, replaceable battery tech and road trips to relieve range anxiety for customers. Now, Tesla is finally revealing some details on its huge, upcoming battery plant.

According to Tesla, its new factory -- dubbed "Tesla Gigafactory" -- will be located in either Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico or Texas. Tesla is likely choosing among these Southwestern states because the factory will be largely powered by solar and wind power, and the Southwest has plenty of sunshine to feed the plant.

The giant Gigafactory will span 500-1000 acres of land and have a space requirement of 10 million square feet. It'll employ around 6,500 people and aims to produce 35 GWh of cells and 50 GWh of battery packs a year.

Tesla added that it's getting ready to produce 500,000 EVs a year in 2020, and the Gigafactory will supply those battery packs. What's more is that Tesla expects the per-kWh cost of a Tesla battery pack to be lowered by more than 30 percent once the factory is up and running for the first year.

This is huge for Tesla, since the cost of batteries is a large fear of potential EV customers. Tesla has been working hard to ease such fears, since this will lead to more sales in the future.

The automaker recently addressed range anxiety associated with road trips by placing Supercharger stations from Los Angeles to New York, allowing for a coast-to-coast trip free of worry.

Tesla will invest around $2 billion in the plant through 2020 while investors will pay another $2-3 billion for a total $4-5 billion investment.

This year will be a busy one in the Gigafactory's timeline, as Tesla plans to select a location, start intial project design, engage in partner discussions, begin zoning and design, and finally start construction.

Construction will continue through 2015, and in 2016, equipment installation is set to begin. The year 2017 will finally see production launch, and will gun for the half million EVs produced in 2020.

Tesla has proven time and time again that being the small guy in the auto race doesn't mean coming in last. In May 2013, Tesla repaid its $465 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nine years earlier than expected from the original 2022 due date.

Tesla is currently rocking the auto world by fighting auto dealers around the U.S. in order to sell its Model S on its own without any middlemen. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said he'd make the fight a federal case if he had to.

For Q4 2013, Tesla reported a profit of $46 million and saw its loss decrease to $16.2 million, which is much slimmer than the $90 million loss a year earlier.

Tesla shares rose $34.65 to close at $252.30 Tuesday, and kept rising in premarket trading early Wednesday hitting $258.60.

If people can't go and see the car in person, test drive it, etc etc, they're is WAY less chance they'll buy it.

I know in Musk's mind everyone will just buy cars off the Internet, but that's just crazy talk. It's only working now because his current cars cater exclusively to the rich, they can afford to not be discerning.

Tesla is production limited, so sales are unaffected for now. But people can at least see the car in person at their gallerias (where they're forbidden to discuss pricing, financing, or test drives).

He's not expecting everyone or even most people to just buy off the internet. Tesla has a lot of showrooms across the US, and is expanding them as needed. They show features, give test drives (unless forbidden to do so), educate, etc.

Direct sales doesn't necessarily mean internet sales. It just means there's no independent middleman. He wants salesmen to be direct employees of Tesla, have a unified message, and not operate on commission.

I just checked Tesla's website, their closest location where I can actually go SEE the goddamn cars they sell, is almost three hours from where I live. THREE HOURS!!!!

Meanwhile everyone else has a dealership within like 10-15 miles of my house.

And I don't live in the middle of nowhere. I live near Charlotte NC. And they don't even have a showroom there! A major metropolitan city.

Furthermore according to their site, a service center about three hours away is "coming soon". So even if I make the three hour drive and buy a Model S, there's nowhere I can get it serviced near my residence!!

quote: Tesla has a lot of showrooms across the US

What the...this is obviously a blatant lie! I can't believe you get away with the constant Tesla PR FUD.

This is my whole point. You know what, maybe dealerships aren't all that great. I agree. But at least I can go SEE the vehicles, test drive them, buy them and get them serviced.

Is this even getting through to you? Do you understand what I'm saying?

quote: I know in Musk's mind everyone will just buy cars off the Internet, but that's just crazy talk. It's only working now because his current cars cater exclusively to the rich, they can afford to not be discerning.

That was my thought...

Allot of the people who we classify as "Rich" and buy cars like these tend also to be trendy. What happens to Tesla when his product is no longer considered hip enough for the wealthy, primarily urban, trend setter?